DIY Ninja Trick or Treat Bucket {$1 Pumpkin Makeover}

Give your $1 Halloween Pumpkin an easy makeover into this adorable Ninja Trick or Treat bucket with just a few simple steps anyone can do!

This post is sponsored by Nestle USA in honor of their commitment of the removal of artificial colors and flavors from it’s chocolate by the end of 2015. All opinions and crafty ideas are straight from The Pinning Mama.

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A couple of years ago, I accidentally started a tradition at our house. You know when you do something and then your kids think it is the best thing ever and then by default you have to do it every year because it is their favorite? Well, two years ago I made over my son’s $1 halloween pumpkin we got at the store with a coat of paint to match his halloween costume. It was cute. It was fun. And now a pumpkin makeover is a must for all of our halloween costumes. Luckily it is super easy and we get all sorts of oohhhs and ahhhhs as we go around collecting all of that candy loot around the neighborhood so the kids really love it.

Despite my clever marketing of broccoli, carrots and all things vegetables, my kids are in love with candy. They are allowed to pick a piece if they finish their meal and it is the highlight of their day. Naturally Halloween is a slight obsession, especially for my son. He says he “might even like it better than Christmas, but don’t tell Santa,” ha! This year we stocked up on candy for Halloween and got one super sized bag and a couple of smaller bags with extra fun candy. Nestle makes bags with 60 all the way up to 450 pieces so you can get enough for the whole neighborhood in one shot. My kids loved the Nestle Crunch bars with the Peanuts characters (yes, we will be in theaters for the new Peanuts movie November 6!) and I loved the sweet tarts which have no artificial colors or flavors (a mom who has candy loving kids dream!)

This year my little guy is going to be a Ninja. He is absolutely OBSESSED with 2 things right now. 1. Dirt bikes and 2. Anything and everything Ninja. Since he couldn’t be a dirt bike, a ninja was of course the number 1 choice for Halloween. We found a pretty crazy cool costume and the only thing left was to do our annual pumpkin make over. This ninja trick or treat bucket was super simple and minus dry time, probably only takes about 15-20 minutes to put together.

Supplies:

Halloween Pumpkin

Black spray paint (I used matte and got it for $1 at Walmart)

Skin tone acrylic paint ($0.59 at Walmart) + Paint brush

Black Sharpie

Red strip of fabric {Buy in the fabric section or cut up an old t-shirt}

Glue gun

Instructions:

Spray paint the outside of the pumpkin black. I used about 3-4 thin coats to make sure the paint didn’t run or get streaky.

Once the black paint dries, use the skin colored paint to paint on a rounded rectangle centered on the handle, about 3-4 inches down from the top of the pumpkin. I lightly drew it out with a pencil and then painted over it. If you aren’t comfortable freehanding it, you can cut it out of printer paper and trace it on. You will probably need 2-3 thin coats to completely cover the black.

Once the skin colored paint is dry, use a sharpie marker to draw on dots for eyes and lines for eyebrows. I used the pumpkin line to center the eyes and make it easier to keep it even.

Cut a 1 inch strip of red fabric long enough to tie around your pumpkin. Center it on the top of the head and tie around the back. I used a few dots of hot glue to keep it from sliding off.

Super simple as promised, and currently my little guy is hugging it on the couch as he is watching a show. I think he likes it!

A princess pumpkin makeover is in the works for my daughter and both kids keep trying to sneak into the Peanuts Nestle Crunch bars to fill their pumpkins! I have to use my ninja like mom moves to sneak the candy back into it’s rightful place for the neighborhood kids on Halloween night! Make sure to check out the Nestle Facebook page for more Halloween and candy fun!